Translation is generally regarded as either an elementary or an overly complex exercise. Too often it is regarded as merely a ma

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问题    Translation is generally regarded as either an elementary or an overly complex exercise. Too often it is regarded as merely a matter of individual preference, hence warranting little general discussion, unless one engages in professional translation, new technology for it, applied linguistics, or the like. Having read recent publications in several fields and talked with colleagues, I beg to differ.
   Before raising the issues, let us agree on the obvious. Decisions on the mode of translation often involve several dimensions. First, the choice of style: should the translation be literal, permissibly free, rendered quite lyrical, given an extended nuance for clarity or emphasis, stretched somewhat to go along with a certain interpretation, and so on? Another aspect is that of cross-cultural perspective: how to indicate something in one culture by a counterpart in another, across the barriers of respective cultural contexts? (E. g. , should the old Chinese elite be called "the gentry" ?) A third and related dimension may appear; how to adjust a translated term to fit a given discipline? (E. g. , can "training" in an earlier translation now read "socialization," in the interest of mid-twentieth century sociology or even political science?) A fourth dimension is whether or not to make a temporal adjustment; e. g. , should a piece in classical Japanese be translated in old English or current English? A fifth dimension is something like the Heisenberg Principle of Uncertainty in physics. When one particular meaning of a word gets pinned down, this imparts other connotations or implications.
   There are yet other dimensions, but enough said. Let us agree that choosing one way to translate does not necessarily imply rejecting others. We know all about that; we ponder over the dimensions; we struggle with the options, and we make hard decisions. But that is not the point!
   How often do we spell out this thinking process, enabling our readers to quickly fathom whither we are headed? Or rather, do we leave them to figure out, if they wish, not only what we do but how we have done it? This falls short of effective communication, not to mention the time wastefully spent retracing one’s footsteps without a map.
   The questions that need to be raised are these: Can we try to encourage more authors who publish considerable amounts of translation to add some brief explanation of their thinking process behind it, either as a whole or on particular passages? Would it be desirable to stress the same in graduate training? Attention to these matters will help.
The author of the text could very possibly be a______.

选项 A、writer
B、translator
C、professor
D、news reporter

答案B

解析 推理判断题。本文是一篇介绍翻译的文章,由文章第一段最后一句可知,作者是专业的翻译人员,故答案为[B]项。
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